Hidden in Shadows
by lousiemcdoogle
Summary: It was only a couple of blocks, and surely she should be safe enough at 10pm two nights before Christmas? -My contribution to the 2012 Secret Santa. This is a gift to Natalie Elizabeth.


**A/N: My contribution to the 2012 Secret Santa. This fic is a gift to Natalie Elizabeth- Merry Christmas! If you want to know the prompt, it's at the end. This is set Christmas of season 4, so I'm guessing post-Cuffed, pre-Til Death? Somewhere around there, anyway. **

**Castle belongs to Andrew Marlowe and ABC. Deck the Castle with boughs of mistletoe, I say!**

* * *

She snuggled down deeper into her coat as she crunched her way through the snow. She wasn't often a fan of walking alone at night- too many crime scenes, too many victims, her own mother included. It was only a couple of blocks, and surely she should be safe enough at 10pm two nights before Christmas? She could feel the weight of her glock reassuringly nestled in its holster at her back, but the wind was bitter, sweeping through her bones, and even the thought of undoing her coat to have access to her weapon made her shiver, bury deeper. She was a cop, trained in self defense. She would be fine. It was only a couple of blocks. She would be fine.

Her senses twinged. Her cop danger radar began blipping. As she neared her destination, she could feel eyes on her. Not good.

Pretending to admire a window display, she took the opportunity to sweep her eyes around her immediate vicinity. Christmas crowds had dissipated apparently, from this part of the city at least, and the few people she could see up the sidewalk were in non-threatening looking pairs or groups, laughing as they went about their last-minute holiday shopping. Nothing pinged, but she couldn't prevent that prickle on the back of her neck that had rarely steered her wrong. Something was off.

She began moving more quickly, spotting her destination on the next block. The feeling she was being followed only grew stronger, though, and she chanced another glance over her shoulder.

Nothing.

Arriving at the building she was meant to meet him, the tightness in her chest eased, but only for a moment. Whomever was following her was getting closer now. And she was meant to meet him by the back entrance, in the alley.

Doing her best to appear nonchalant, she moved gracefully between a few lingering fans clutching newly-signed books and slipped around the corner of the book store decked out with garland-draped life-sized cardboard cut outs of a smirking author she knew as the man she lo- as her partner, holding a copy of Frozen Heat and signs advertising his presence to do a reading and signing on December 23rd. Sinking immediately into the shadows, she hugged the wall as she moved silently towards the service entry he had directed her to wait by.

The service entrance he had indicated had a single light bulb above it, encased in bars to discourage vandals, set high on the wall, throwing the alcove for the door into perfect shadow. Beckett slipped into the alcove- it was just big enough for one, and with the cast of the light, she would be able to see without being seen.

Plastering herself against the wall, she moved so that she could observe the entrance to the alley.

It was deserted.

A strange, snuffling noise came from behind a pair of garbage cans stacked haphazardly next to the dumpster on the far side of the alley.

She wasn't alone.

Images of another alley flooded her mind, crime scene photos that haunted her dreams. Her mother's eyes staring lifeless, stab wounds adorning the body that had cradled her through _Temptation__Lane_ marathons and held her as she wept. The bullet scar on her chest began to ache, and her breathing became shallow. Images of another detective visiting her father crowded in swiftly, too. Castle's face when he came out to meet her, his joyful expression dropping away to anguish and self loathing as he discovered her corpse. She would never get to tell him that she knew, that she remembered.

Gasping for breath, she backed into the shadows, only to be thrust unceremoniously into the expanse of the alley by the force of the door opening suddenly outwards behind her. Winded, she stumbled to her feet, spinning around in terror, her ankle giving slightly as she stood.

"Kate? You ok?" Castle hurried to her side.

"I'm fi-fine," she replied automatically, but the little gasp that caused her stutter spoke otherwise, and Castle helped her back to the wall, looking at her critically in the dim light. She rotated her ankle once, twice, tentatively put her weight on it, and finally looked up at him with a more genuine smile. "I really am fine, Castle. I just didn't expect you to come barreling through the doors like that, and I was convinced someone followed me here. I was surprised, that's all."

He studied her face for a long moment, as if assessing her truthfulness, before finally nodding and stepping back.

"Your ankle ok? There's a great cafe about two blocks from here I was thinking of for our pre-Christmas-post-shift coffee if you can walk that far."

"I'm fine, Castle. Really-" her words cut short as the strange snuffling sounds came back to her from the direction of the dumpster, and she froze, staring. He knitted his eyebrows, trying to figure out what had her so rattled, and glanced over his shoulders to where she was staring.

"What's-" he began, but she interrupted him with an urgent hand signal to be quiet, not stopping from scanning the dumpster and trash cans with her eyes.

"Allow me," he murmured, and before she could do anything to stop him, he had slipped surprisingly stealthily over to the trash cans. Steadying himself, he took a moment to count three in what any other day she would have seen as being a comical imitation of Esposito during a raid, before suddenly lifting the trash can nearest the dumpster up and away, to reveal anything in behind it. Her heart stopped as she watched, warning caught in her throat. If there was anyone sinister there, he was done for.

He stared for a moment, eyes focused on what she imagined to be the dark crevice behind the dumpster, then dropped to one knee, speaking something she couldn't hear in a soft, low tone.

"What is it?" she hissed, somehow still unable to will her body into motion. Ignoring her, he continued his murmuring, and a moment later, a small, white nose peaked out from around the side of the dumpster. Leaning forward, he picked up the shivering bundle and held it close. She felt her shoulders slump in relief as he turned to face her, blue eyes twinkling in the dim light, arms cradling the quivering form.

"No wonder you were scared, Beckett. It's quite the ferocious beast," he teased, and the puppy of questionable heritage in his arms gave a quiet "wuff!" of agreement.

"I wasn't scared," she contradicted automatically, scrambling to save face. He raised an eyebrow, challenging her. "I was wary," she said firmly, raising an eyebrow back at him.

Crossing the alley towards her, he placed the small animal in her arms. The puppy wasn't shaking quite so much now, and settled in to her warmth happily, a little pink tongue darting out to lick her cheek in appreciation.

"It seems you have a friend," Castle said, voice low, reaching out to pet the dog. His eyes held hers for a long, breathless moment, the hand on the dog just a little too close to her cheek but not touching her at all. "He likes you," he whispered, a simple shift of his weight moving him into her personal space. She looked up at him, taking in the darkening of his blue eyes, the suppressed emotion running rampant in them. Breath caught in her throat, she forced herself to look away- but that was even worse, as she got no further than his mouth. His lips parted in anticipation, and her tongue darted out of its own accord to moisten her own. He leaned towards her slowly.

The puppy in her arms chose that moment to reward his rescuer with a wet, sloppy kiss- right on his open mouth.

Spluttering, Castle wiped at his mouth furiously, turning away and spitting into the snow. She laughed, the golden sound filling the alley, echoing off the walls, and rubbed the puppy's tummy. "Good boy," she crooned, sending her partner a wicked smile.

"That's the thanks I get for saving you from the ferocious beast?" the twinkle in his eyes belied the hard done by tone.

Suppressing an eye-roll, Kate stepped towards the entrance to the alley. "Come on, Castle, it looks like your hoards of screaming fans have dissipated. We should head off."

"Can we go back to your place instead?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he was gesturing to the puppy. "We can't take him in the cafe, and it's too late to call animal welfare tonight."

Sighing, she nodded slowly, and they headed out to the quiet street. It was surprisingly easy to get a cab, and soon they were bowling along, the puppy sitting quietly in Kate's lap. Castle turned to look at her, finally breaking the contented silence they had been enjoying only a block from Kate's building.

"Thanks again for spending Christmas-Eve-eve with me," he said softly.

"You're welcome. Thank you for saving me from the ferocious beast," she replied, cuddling the puppy just a little tighter. His eyes crinkled in that special smile he reserved just for her.

"Partners, right?" he said as the cab pulled up.

Reaching over to squeeze his hand quickly, she replied "Partners. Always."

* * *

**The three requests were:**

**1. Beckett being followed either by car or by foot by someone unexpected  
2. Season 4, Christmas celebration preferably Caskett  
3. Castle comes to Beckett's rescue of something trivial/ non life threatening/ mundane**

**I tried to combine them and hit all three, because everyone should get more than they ask for at Christmas... and then the story took on its own life and turned out a bit different to what I was expecting. Thoughts?**


End file.
